Help needed from the listers.
Successfully removed the Martec prop, thanks for the advice on that. Made a tool from split pipe to try to get the cutlass bearing out of the strut. Much cussing and bleeding but no joy. The forward end of the strut is actually a smaller diameter than the aft end so the cutlass can only be removed going aft. Don't have a clue why, but thats the way it is. I had to take the strut off and get it pressed out by a machine shop. I can buy a new cutlass bearing from West Marine, unless other suggestions.Now my problem is how to get the strut with the new bearing reinstalled and alligned with the shaft. Shaft is still in the boat. There was a rubber or silicone like material under the strut base and some washers between the strut and the hull in the silicone. Obviously, used to shim the strut for allignment. I alligned a strut once in my 1949 mahogany speed boat but it was a joined strut which made it pretty easy. This one is solid and I am looking for advice on how to go about it.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Regards, Hank Evans

Sorry I didn't answer this thread before but have had my head into too many bilge's lately. A friend and i designed a tool that press fits the bearing out and again press fits the bearing back in while the strut remains on the hull. Tried it out on my C&C29 77 and on a couple of 30's and the only comment we got was WOW. This tool is worth it's weight in curses. In the next week I'll have it up on my web site with a description of how it works. On the same principle we made up another tool that pulls out the shaft and yes inserts it back in. As for your strut i would use sika flex or 3m-5200 and use the old shims again.

Hi Hank,
For your new cutless bearing you might want to consider the ones with the non-metalic sleeve. The advantage to these are that they do not corrode and are much easier to remove from the strut if and when you do it the next time. I can guarantee you that the next person who changes this cutless bearing will definitely appreciate the fact that you used the non-metalic type.
You might want to double check your strut and cutless bearing to make sure that it is tapered. I don't recall ever seeing any cutless bearings that are tapered but you never know.
The manufacturer that I used was Johnson Duramax. You can e-mail Ben Kingery at gkingery@DuramaxMarine.com
He will be able to give you the name of your local dealer and the model you will need to order. You will have to provide him with the shaft diameter, the inside diameter of the strut, and the length of the cutless bearing. I paid about $50 US two years ago.
As far as aligning goes, put your strut back with the same amount of washers at each bolt and then do the final alignment using your engine mounts, assuming you have the adjustable type. You cannot accurately align the shaft with the engine when the boat is out of the water. The shape of the boat distorts when it is on the hard and engine alignment will not be correct once the boat goes back into the water. The boat should sit in the water for at least two weeks before you attempt to align the shaft. It is a very fine adjustment and the tolerances are measured in thousandths of an inch at the shaft to gearbox coupling with a feeler gauge.
Hope this helps. -- Ted Drossos

Hi Ted,
Thanks for the advice on allignment and cutlass bearings. Any thoughts on what kind of bedding goop to use for the strut ? By the way, the bearing is not tapered. The strut is drilled out to the bearing diameter to within about 1/4" of the forward end. The forward end is drilled out a 1/4" smaller than the bearing diameter. When the bearing is slipped in from the aft end it hits this lip at the forward end and stops. I've never seen one done this way but thats how it its.
Regards, Hank Evans

Hi Hank,
I don't know specifically what type of "goop" was used between the strut and the hull but I would venture to guess that you wouldn't want to use anything permanent like 5200. What if you need to remove the strut again??? I would use an epoxy mixture with a high density filler as the "goop". Wax the base plate of the strut before you fasten the strut to the hull. Assemble the strut to the hull using the washers you removed as shims and the uncured "goop" will fill any voids between the base plate and the hull when you tighten the strut bolts. The wax will prevent the strut from permanently bonding to the hull.
When I changed my stuffing box, shaft, cutless bearing, and prop, I removed the strut and noticed that the "goop" looked to be the same as the fairing compound used to fair the strut base even with the hull. It was not flexible as you might expect caulking to be. I think the intent here is to provide a uniform bearing surface between the strut base and the hull and the bolts will do the rest. By the way, I did notice that the strut nuts on the inside had lock washers and double nuts to act as another means to prevent the first set of nuts from working loose. I used the West system epoxy with a micro balloon filler as the fairing compound after the strut was reinstalled to fair the strut to the hull.
Hope this helps. Ted Drossos